7 Reasons to Take Travel Insurance

Many people see travel insurance as an unnecessary and expensive expenditure. Having gone on many holidays, and trips abroad, you have never lost anything, and feel that the costs outweigh the benefits. Well that is not entirely true. Whether you claim on lost or stolen goods is irrelevant. The most important part of travel insurance is the cover that it provides in the case of a medical emergency.

And travelling without the correct insurance this summer could leave you thousands of pounds out of pocket if you become ill or have an accident overseas.

Recent figures from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office estimate that half of people going on a short break are uninsured compared to 13% of those on longer duration trips. However, accidents can happen in the shortest space of time, and it is much better to be safe than sorry.

If you forget to take out travel insurance for your holiday you could be in line for some expensive bills if you were to fall prey to an accident.

The following shows some examples of typical medical costs:

Anywhere in the Med should you pick up Gastro-enteritis, you will be liable for: £400 - £600 • Two days in a general hospital ward in the Mediterranean would incur costs of: £600 • Broken leg in the USA, in total including all hospital bills and other expenses will cost: £10,000 • A scheduled flight in business class with a nurse escort from the west coast of the USA will set you back in the region of: £9,000 - £12,000 • An air ambulance back to the UK from the Balearics will cost you between: £10,000 - £12,000 • Costs for catching bronchitis requiring seven days' in-patient treatment in the Far East will be around £15,000 • Catching bronchitis and requiring seven days' in-patient treatment in the USA, will cost even more, at: £20,000

Even if travelling within the EU with a European Health Insurance card [which replaced the old E111 form] you may find that you have to pay a large percentage of the cost of treatments which you may have expected to be free. Remember also that the EHIC only provides this limited cover in EU countries, and not ht whole of Europe. The European Health Insurance Card is no substitute for travel insurance, but it is useful to have.

So no matter what length your holiday this summer, remember to take out travel insurance. It's far better to have it there just in case than take a potentially expensive gamble.

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